Los Angeles jury convicts Harvey Weinstein on 3 rape, sexual assault charges
A jury in Los Angeles on Monday found disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein guilty of raping and sexually assaulting an Italian actress and model, acquitted him of one sexual battery charge from a massage therapist, and deadlocked on three more sexual assault charges from two other women.
Weinstein, 70, is already two years into a 23-year rape and sexual assault sentence in New York. The Los Angeles verdict, reached after a monthlong trial and nine days of jury deliberation, will likely add decades to his incarceration.
The Italian actress, identified as Jane Doe 1, said she hopes "Weinstein never sees the outside of a prison cell during his lifetime," and she is likely to get her wish. "Harvey Weinstein forever destroyed a part of me that night in 2013 and I will never get that back," she said. "The criminal trial was brutal and Weinstein's lawyers put me through hell on the witness stand, but I knew I had to see this through to the end, and I did."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The jury deadlocked 8-4 on rape and sexual assault charges from filmmaker Jennifer Siebel Newsom, the wife of California Gov. Gavin Newsom. Her testimony about Weinstein raping her at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2005 was one of the trial's most dramatic moments.
"Harvey Weinstein will never be able to rape another woman" and "will spend the rest of his life behind bars where he belongs," Siebel Newsom said in a statement. "Throughout the trial, Weinstein's lawyers used sexism, misogyny, and bullying tactics to intimidate, demean, and ridicule us survivors. The trial was a stark reminder that we as a society have work to do."
Weinstein pleaded not guilty, and his lawyers claimed two of the women — including the Italian actress — were lying about their encounters with Weinstein, and Siibel Newsom and fellow witness Lauren Young had recast consensual sex with him after Weinstein became a pariah in the #MeToo movement. If Siebel Newsom hadn't gotten famous afterward, she would be "just another bimbo who slept with Harvey Weinstein to get ahead in Hollywood," his lawyers said. "Regret is not the same thing as rape."
Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón applauded the accusers for testifying against Weinstein and said he hopes the verdict, while a mixed bag for prosecutors, brings "some measure of justice to the victims."
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
US won its war on 'murder hornets,' officials say
Speed Read The announcement comes five years after the hornets were first spotted in the US
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
California declares bird flu emergency
Speed Read The emergency came hours after the nation's first person with severe bird flu infection was hospitalized
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Trump, Musk sink spending bill, teeing up shutdown
Speed Read House Republicans abandoned the bill at the behest of the two men
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Teenage girl kills 2 in Wisconsin school shooting
Speed Read 15-year-old Natalie Rupnow fatally shot a teacher and student at Abundant Life Christian School
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Penny acquitted in NYC subway choking death
Speed Read Daniel Penny was found not guilty of homicide in the 2023 choking death of Jordan Neely
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Suspect in CEO shooting caught, charged with murder
Speed Read Police believe 26-year-old Luigi Mangione killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
UnitedHealthcare CEO killed in 'brazen, targeted' hit
Speed Read Police are conducting a massive search for Brian Thompson's shooter
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
DOJ demands changes at 'abhorrent' Atlanta jail
Speed Read Georgia's Fulton County Jail subjects inmates to 'unconstitutional' conditions, the 16-month investigation found
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
China tries to bury deadly car attack
Speed Read An SUV drove into a crowd of people in Zhuhai, killing and injuring dozens — but news of the attack has been censored
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Menendez brothers may go free in LA prosecutor plan
Speed Read Prosecutors are asking for the brothers to be resentenced for the 1989 murder of their parents
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Abercrombie ex-CEO charged with sex crimes
Speed Read Mike Jeffries ran the brand during its heyday from 1992 to 2014
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published